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Richly endowed in natural resources, Ukraine has been fought over and
subjugated for centuries; its 20th-century struggle for liberty is not yet
complete. A short-lived independence from Russia (1917-1920) was followed
by brutal Soviet rule that engineered two artificial famines (1921-22 and
1932-33) in which over 8 million died, and World War II, in which German
and Soviet armies were responsible for some 7 million more deaths. Although
independence was attained in 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR, true
freedom remains elusive as many of the former Soviet elite remain
entrenched, stalling efforts at economic reform, privatisation, and civic
liberties. The events of late 2004 called by some "The Orange
Revolution", seem to have offered more likelihood of governments in
Kiev being more genuinely independent of Moscow. |
